{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T16:02:37Z","timestamp":1787500957660,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]],"date-time":"2020-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1605052800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000264","name":"Canadian Liver Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["HGY-164788"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HGY-164788"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000264","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000024","name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["HGY-164788"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HGY-164788"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000024","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000010","name":"Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["HGY-164788"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HGY-164788"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000010","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Standardized sex-specific cut-offs for sarcopenia in cirrhosis are needed to identify the risk of clinical complications and to discriminate the severity of sarcopenia. We aimed to compare clinical characteristics between patients with cirrhosis categorized according to the severity of sarcopenia. Computed tomography images were taken at the 3rd lumbar vertebra from 603 patients with cirrhosis and 129 adult donors for living liver transplantation. Patients with skeletal muscle index (SMI) two standard deviations (SD) below the sex-specific mean value of young donors (18\u201340 years old) were categorized as having severe sarcopenia whereas patients with SMI between \u22121 and \u22122 SD of the sex-specific young adult mean values were categorized as having sarcopenia. In the cirrhosis group, 408 patients (68%) were male with the mean age of 57 \u00b1 0.4 years, and MELD score of 14 \u00b1 0.4. Patients were divided into three groups: severe-sarcopenic (SMI &lt; 30 cm2\/m2 in females and &lt;42 cm2\/m2 in males), sarcopenic (30 \u2264 SMI &lt; 37 cm2\/m2 in females and 42 \u2264 SMI &lt; 50 cm2\/m2 in males) and non-sarcopenic (SMI \u2265 37 cm2\/m2 in females and \u226550 cm2\/m2 in males). Patients with cirrhosis and severe sarcopenia had lower muscle radiodensity and higher plasma neutrophil as well as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio levels than both non- and sarcopenic groups. The frequency of alcohol-induced cirrhosis, refractory ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, CRP &gt; 20 mg\/mL, and severe malnutrition was also higher in severe-sarcopenic patients. The interval between sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia may reflect a window of opportunity in which to intervene and mitigate muscle wasting to improve patient outcomes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu12113463","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]],"date-time":"2020-11-11T19:08:28Z","timestamp":1605121708000},"page":"3463","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":40,"title":["Sarcopenia Severity Based on Computed Tomography Image Analysis in Patients with Cirrhosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Maryam","family":"Ebadi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Gastroenterology &amp; Liver Unit, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2X8, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9088-8848","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rahima A.","family":"Bhanji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Gastroenterology &amp; Liver Unit, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2X8, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abha R.","family":"Dunichand-Hoedl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Human Nutrition, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vera C.","family":"Mazurak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Human Nutrition, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vickie E.","family":"Baracos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, AB T6G 1Z2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aldo J.","family":"Montano-Loza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Gastroenterology &amp; Liver Unit, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2X8, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1816","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.30828","article-title":"A North American Expert Opinion Statement on Sarcopenia in Liver Transplantation","volume":"70","author":"Carey","year":"2019","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"845","DOI":"10.1007\/s00535-019-01605-6","article-title":"Sarcopenia in cirrhosis: From pathogenesis to interventions","volume":"54","author":"Ebadi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. 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